Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development Betty Amongi revealed that Shs52,719,505,703 was used in the Covid-19 Relief Fund program. She said that 97.8% was paid to beneficiaries, while only Shs1.152bn (2.2%) was spent on administrative costs.
The beneficiaries were vulnerable persons employed in the informal sector, specifically those who had been directly affected by the COVID-19 containment measures. They included bus/taxi drivers, conductors, baggage carriers, wheelbarrow pushers, touts, traffic guides and loaders in parks and other commercial areas, barmen, DJs, barmaids, waiters and bouncers, and bar, gym and restaurant workers.
President Museveni on June 18, at the onset of the second Covid lockdown, directed the Prime Minister to identify vulnerable groups that depend on daily earnings in urban areas, assess their needs during the lockdown so that the government can support them.
“Each of the 497,848 beneficiaries that were ultimately paid received Shs102,425, inclusive of bank and withdrawal charges,” said Minister Amongi who was sharing her ministry’s End of Year Performance Highlights.
According to the minister, the majority of the recipients were aged 30-54 years, most of whom were males (52%). “A Report on this exercise has already been submitted to the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to Treasury,” she said. “Monitoring reports for the exercise show that the fund was greatly impactful with some of the recipients using some of the money to start up small income-generating activities.”
